1940: Democratic Party

The Democratic Party, one of the two major political parties in the United States, was continued in control of the Federal Government by the 1940 elections. In the 77th Congress which convened in January 1941, the Democratic party had 66 Senators, in the total of 96, and 267 members of the House of Representatives, out of a total of 435. The party also continued to be a powerful force in many states; 29 of the 48, for example, had Democratic governors in January, 1941.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Third Term Issue.

At the beginning of 1940, there was considerable confusion in the Democratic ranks. President Roosevelt's flat refusal to discuss the prospects of his running for a third term completely nonplussed other potential candidates for the Democratic nomination, since they were reluctant to start their own campaigns without knowing the President's intentions. Virtually everything seemed to be at a standstill within the national Democratic party, for even the date of its National Convention was awaiting the announcement of the date of the Republican Convention. On Feb. 5, Chicago was chosen as the place of the Democratic Convention; and on the 17th of the same month, the day after the Republicans announced the date of theirs, the date of the Democratic Convention was set for July 15, the latest date since 1864.

President Roosevelt's unbroken silence on the subject of the third term was said by many prominent Democrats to be demoralizing the party. Many conjectured that his silence could only be construed as evidence of the President's intention to run, unless by his tactics he aimed to dictate the party's presidential nominee at the last moment, since the other candidates could not very well get their campaigns organized and started until the President declared himself. It was generally recognized that Roosevelt could get the nomination if he wanted it.

Of course, the anti-New Dealers among the Democrats were particularly loud in their protests against the President's conduct, but among those who were less outspoken, but apparently no less opposed to a third term, were several of Roosevelt's hitherto most devoted followers, including Postmaster General James A. Farley. Other prominent Democrats who demanded that the President declare his intentions had no objections to a third term, but they wanted to end the strained relations and the ill-will which, according to them, his silence was engendering in the party.

Meanwhile a 'draft movement' was started by the President's admirers and followers. As early as January, Attorney General Robert H. Jackson pleaded with him to reserve his decision on the matter of a third term; Sidney Hillman announced that Roosevelt had the backing of the United Clothing Workers and deserved the support of labor; and Joseph F. Guffey, a Senator from Pennsylvania and a powerful figure in the Democratic party in that state, urged labor to draft Roosevelt. Senator Guffey's recommendation that Roosevelt be drafted was endorsed at the beginning of February by the Pennsylvania Democratic State Convention. Among numerous prominent Democrats, who openly supported President Roosevelt for a third term were Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago, Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City, and Edward J. Flynn of the Bronx, New York City, all three being the overlords of political domains which were bulwarks of Democratic strength.

Other Candidates.

In the face of Roosevelt's silence and the agitation for a third term, the candidacies, actual or potential, of Vice-President John N. Garner, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Senator Burton G. Wheeler, Federal Security Administrator Paul V. McNutt and the others all faded away. Only that of James A. Farley, Postmaster General and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, remained. It was evident that Farley's candidacy, no matter how genuine in its origin, was in its final stages more a formal gesture of protest against a third term than a serious effort to get the nomination. Even after nearly everyone assumed that President Roosevelt would receive the nomination, and after Farley had undoubtedly been told of the President's intention of permitting his own name to go before the Convention, Farley doggedly adhered to his candidacy. His protest was made all the more dramatic by his name being placed in nomination at the Convention by the venerable and beloved Senator Carter Glass of Virginia, who, at the advanced age of 82, rose from a sick-bed and made the long trip to Chicago for the purpose of nominating Farley. The nominating speech of Senator Glass was as much a rebuke to the third-term candidacy as it was a tribute to 'Jim' Farley.

A few days before the Democratic Convention opened, Administration spokesmen proceeded to Chicago, presumably to lay the groundwork for the President's nomination. No official pronouncement of his intentions had yet come from President Roosevelt, but practically everybody by this time took it for granted that he would 'consent to be drafted.' There was also no question of the control of the Convention by the President's followers, although political experts reported that there was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm for and fear of a third term among a substantial portion of the delegates themselves.

Democratic National Convention.

The Democratic Convention officially opened in the Chicago Stadium on Monday evening, July 15, with 'God Bless America' as the theme song of the Convention, and with the delivery of the keynote speech by the Convention's temporary Chairman, William B. Bankhead, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The keynoter vigorously denied that the Democrats were a 'war party,' as claimed by the Republicans. The following night, July 16, another address, flaying the Republicans and extolling the Democrats, was delivered by Senator Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky, permanent Chairman of the Convention.

When Senator Barkley had finished his address, he announced that he had 'an additional statement to make on behalf of the President.' Barkley wanted to make the fact clear to the Convention that the president had no desire to be a candidate, or to be nominated by the Convention. 'All delegates to the Convention,' the President wanted them to know, were 'free to vote for any candidate.'

The next day after the adoption of a platform the Convention proceeded 'to draft' Roosevelt for the nomination. Technically nominated 'by acclamation,' upon the motion of James A. Farley, in a belated abandonment of his own candidacy, President Roosevelt was not, in the balloting, the unanimous choice of the Convention. The total vote on the first and only ballot was Roosevelt, 946; Farley, 72; Garner, 61; Tydings, 9½; Hull, 5.

The overwhelming nature of the vote in favor of Roosevelt's nomination tends to suggest that the newspaper accounts of the extent of the Democratic disapproval of a third term may have been somewhat exaggerated. The opposition to the President's dictation of the vice-presidential nominee, however, was open and rebellious in spirit. There were several prospective nominees for this office, a few of whom presumably had the endorsement of President Roosevelt. But before the time for balloting, word began to circulate' among the delegates that only Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace was acceptable to the President. The latter, it was added, might not accept his own nomination unless Wallace was named as his running mate.

The afternoon of July 18, Senator Barkley, the Chairman of the Convention, adjourned the afternoon session without permitting nominations for Vice-President. It was later said that this was a play for time, in order to give Harry Hopkins, leader of the Administration forces, the opportunity to persuade various candidates to withdraw. When the Convention reassembled that night, the forces opposed to Wallace tried to head off his nomination by rallying around Speaker Bankhead and Paul V. McNutt, Federal Security Administrator. McNutt personally blocked support of himself by appealing to the Convention, despite its efforts to howl him down, to follow the President's wishes and name Wallace. Edward J. Flynn, close personal friend of Roosevelt, and presumably authorized to speak for him, told the delegates that the President wanted Wallace. On the first ballot, with 551 votes necessary for a choice, Wallace received 627 7/10 votes, Bankhead 329, McNutt 66, with other votes scattered.

Roosevelt Accepts.

President Roosevelt, in accepting nomination in a radio address from Washington, July 19, gave his reasons for his prolonged silence on the subject of a third term. When war broke out in Europe in 1939, he said, he had had no intention of again being a candidate. A statement from him at the time, he thought, would be unwise from the point of view of public duty. Then the war in Europe, he explained, had taken such a turn that he felt it was his duty to serve another term as President, if the American people demanded it. Whether or not the latter was the case would be demonstrated in the November election.

Despite President Roosevelt's explanation, political commentators observed considerable dissatisfaction among the delegates with the outcome of the Convention. On the face of the Convention vote, however, it would be hard to get around the fact that Roosevelt enjoyed the full support of the Convention, whatever may have been the reasons for it — affection, party loyalty, or self-interest. As to the resentment stirred up by the dictated choice of Wallace for the vice-presidential nomination, many of the delegates appear to have been more disturbed by the alleged weakness of Wallace as a candidate than by any assumption of autocratic control of the party by Roosevelt. Wallace, these malcontents claimed, could not hold the farm vote of the Middle West against the combined attractions of Willkie and McNary, a prediction which proved to be fairly sound.

Before the Chicago Convention broke up, Farley, on July 19, was re-elected to serve as National Chairman until Aug. 17. A sub-committee of five, with Edward J. Flynn as Chairman, was appointed to select Farley's successor. The resignation of the popular Farley both as National Chairman and Postmaster General had long been expected. In view of his known disapproval of Roosevelt's violation of the third-term tradition, it was surprising that he remained in the offices as long as he did. Observers generally believed that only his devotion to the principle of party harmony, or to put it another way, devotion to a principle of no public discord, could have induced him to do so. On August 8, the announcement was made from Hyde Park, the President's home, that Farley had resigned as Postmaster General, effective Aug. 31. On Aug. 17, he turned over to his successor the direction of Roosevelt's third-term campaign along with the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, a post which he had occupied with great success since 1932.

Earlier, on Aug. 1, it had been announced that Edward J. Flynn was to succeed Farley as National Chairman on Aug. 17. Flynn was something of a surprise choice, since earlier speculation had singled out Senator James F. Byrnes of South Carolina and Frank G. Walker of New York as the most likely possibilities. Although Flynn had been chairman of the sub-committee which technically selected him, his choice was commonly attributed to President Roosevelt.

During the months before Election, rumors continued to circulate of discord within the Democratic party owing to Roosevelt's third-term candidacy. It was noticeable, though, that the most vociferous Democratic critics of the President were far from being new recruits to the ranks of his enemies. Farley's obvious disapproval of the course of events probably did the party no good, but his policy of abstaining from open criticism could not do it much harm. Farley, continuing as Chairman of the Democratic State Committee of New York, tersely announced in October that he would vote the straight Democratic ticket. Even Carter Glass, notwithstanding his vehement denunciation of a third-term candidacy, refused to bolt the party. In an effort perhaps to heal any lingering wounds from the Convention, Speaker Bankhead was invited to preside at the ceremonies notifying Wallace of his nomination, scheduled for Aug. 29, at Des Moines, Iowa. Bankhead asked to be excused because of pressure of business in Washington. Shortly afterward, on Sept. 15, he died in Washington at the age of 66.

Effects of Victory.

It would seem that in the long run the events of the year should be conducive to harmony within the party. The victory at the polls with all that it entails should be a powerful factor in binding the party together. Moreover, Roosevelt's leadership of the party, aside from the Southern conservatives, is probably going to be challenged less than ever before, since the anti-New Dealers in the Democratic party, again excepting the Southern wing, have mostly either left the party or resigned themselves to the situation.